Manship School spring graduation ceremony to be held May 12, Renee Edelman to deliver commencement address

One of the country’s top public-relations executives will address the graduating class of LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communication on Friday, May 12.

The speaker, Renée Edelman, is a senior vice president at Edelman, a leading global communications marketing firm. She works in “collaborative journalism” there, with a network of former journalists which is helping every brand become a media company by identifying and telling the brand’s human and authentic stories.

She brings more than 25 years of experience in executive positioning and strategic media relations for digital media and technology companies. She has worked with such clients as eBay, Symantec, Veritas, Adobe Systems and Fujitsu America.

In 1998, she helped found PR21, Daniel J. Edelman Holdings’  second public relations brand, where she oversaw work for Oracle. In 1996, she created and led Edelman New Media, a group dedicated to serving digital media and Internet clients in New York during the first Internet boom. She handled Time Inc. New Media and CNNfn, as well as GeoCities through its initial public offering and acquisition by Yahoo. She also promoted the launch of New York Newsday into Manhattan.

Before joining Edelman in October 1985, she spent six years as a journalist, working at the New York Daily News, the Home News in New Brunswick, N.J. and Women's Wear Daily. She earned a B.A. in English from Yale College. She graduated with an M.S.J.  from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. She has served on the board of directors of the Children’s Museum of Manhattan for more than 25 years.

The public is invited to the Manship graduation at Maddox Field House on the LSU campus. The program will begin at 2 p.m. May 12. But the Manship School warns that traffic will be heavy and asks that guests arrive early so that the ceremony is not interrupted.

If you're unable to join us, you can watch the live stream of the ceremony here: http://bit.ly/2pwwBPA